The bellow stopped her mid stride.
“I’m not here for you. I have no quarrel with the Nordes, but the treaty stands. If you get in the middle of?—”
Exasperated, she popped a hip. “The Nordes are among the only pantheons that share your end-of-everything tale. I exist to burn shit to the ground. You’re notmyking. You can’t keep me from the action.”
“I don’t need your help with the Slavic pantheon. If you’re seeking some allegiance with Hell for you or your people. I don’t know that this battle will result in?—”
“Take the fucking win, will you? Let a girl have some fun.”
The Norde dashed into the forest. I didn’t know her powers and couldn’t speculate as to how much help she’d be, but the time had come.
Fine. I’d kill her later if I had to. There was no line I wouldn’t cross.
The humans crested the threshold as their invasion began.
The immortals spotted the flame-haired entity before I had a plan of action.
So much for my cover?—
The thought ended with a crackle as the Norde picked up the angel by the throat, a shimmering arch of teal and shine, and slammed him into the ground.
Holy shit. She hadn’t blown my cover. Shewasmy cover.
A chance like this didn’t come twice.
I sliced through the air, able to ignore Heaven entirely, two fists shooting through the veil before my body landed on the far side.
We sprinted into one another with a resounding clash.
I grabbed a fistful of Izi’s hair with my right hand and Jarovid’s ear with my left, slamming their skulls together as my legion descended.
Izi fell to the snow, scrambling on the ground with wide, black eyes in the instant it took her to understand how royally fucked she was.
She vanished in a predictable flash, leaving me alone to face the sneering god of war.
Soldiers threw their body weight into doors until the wood collapsed. Husbands, fathers, citizens dashed heroically into the fight, screamed like cowards as they dashed into the woods, or wet themselves as foreigners ransacked their village. Women wailed as their homes were set ablaze, some throwing their bodies on top of their children to protect them, some picking up weapons, some scooping infants against their breasts as they hid beneath logs or under snowbanks. Chaos descended within seconds.
I ran backward, my sights stuck to the enemy.
“You’re finished, Prince,” Jarovid sneered.
Eyes wild, fists at my side, I backed further and further toward Love’s house. “Don’t youdare.”
I watched his pupils as they darted from me to the house I’d marked with blood. His lips pulled back from his teeth as his eyes locked on her home.
“No.” I pressed against the logs, arms stretched wide.
A tar-soaked laugh oozed from the corner of his lips.
I forced myself to freeze as he did what I needed him to do.
No words existed for my agony. No vocabulary for my shame. No proverbial hell dark enough, painful enough, cruel enough to atone for what I needed to do. I awaited a binding treaty, shattering at each footstep that brought us closer to its breach.
I didn’t deserve Love. I wasn’t worthy of her knowing my name after what was about to happen.
But…
There was no ‘but’.
